A bride who plunged 20 to 25 feet from a second-floor hotel window on her wedding night — suffering fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, and injuries to her back, leg, hip and pelvis — has settled her personal injury action before the High Court.
Jackie Sexton (née Tyrrell) had taken proceedings against Deebert House Hotel Ltd in Kilmallock, Co Limerick, after the fall occurred in the late hours following her wedding on February 29th, 2020, reports Breaking News.
The hotel denied any responsibility and fully defended the case, saying the windows had been fitted with restrictors in 2014 and fully complied with building regulations.
Ms Sexton, a mother of two, alleged negligence and breach of duty for failing to ensure the hotel room was safe for her use, reports Breaking News.
Giving evidence on Friday, Ms Sexton told her senior counsel, Mr Barney Quirke, that she and her husband returned to the hotel from their off-site wedding reception at around 3.30am and went to room 217. She said considerable alcohol had been consumed earlier and that the last thing she recalled was sitting in her underwear on the windowsill with her feet on a table.
Ms Sexton (37), originally from The Curragh, Co Kildare and now living in Croom, Co Limerick, said she had been smoking at the window when she fell, reports Breaking News.
She said the next memory she had was waking in Limerick University Hospital the following day with a morphine clicker in her hand. She said she only learned the details of the fall when her husband, Christopher, informed her.
In his opening statement, Mr Quirke said Mr Sexton came back from the bathroom to find the bedroom empty and the window open. He said Mr Sexton panicked, and though he could not see his wife from the window, he heard “moaning or groaning” coming from the paved area below, reports Breaking News.
Counsel said Ms Sexton fell onto snowy, wet concrete and that the spot where she landed was difficult to reach, delaying the response.
She had sustained multiple rib fractures, injuries to her back, right leg, hip and pelvis, a kidney infarction and a collapsed lung, reports Breaking News.
Her legal team said “the wedding weekend was destroyed as a result of the accident.”
Ms Sexton told the court she had been active before the fall, enjoying walking and swimming, holding a jockey licence since her teens and having qualified in horsemanship. She had worked in hospitality, a local Spar, and medical device production, jobs she said she can no longer manage due to persistent back and leg pain, reports Breaking News.
She described her rehabilitation — which took place during Covid — as “painful and scary,” involving surgery, a cervical collar, a spinal brace, a wheelchair, crutches, physiotherapy and strong medication.
Shortly after lunchtime on Friday, while Aidan Doyle SC for the hotel was due to continue cross-examining Ms Sexton, the plaintiff’s legal team informed Ms Justice Denis Brett that both sides were in discussions aiming to reach a resolution, reports Breaking News.
Just after 3pm, Mr Quirke told the court that the case had been settled and could be struck out with no order for costs. Ms Justice Brett struck out the five-day trial and offered her best wishes to Ms Sexton.
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